Internal Revenue Bulletin:
2008-47

November 24, 2008

Announcement of Disciplinary
Sanctions From the Office of Professional Responsibility

Table of Contents

The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) announces recent
disciplinary sanctions involving attorneys, certified public accountants,
enrolled agents, enrolled actuaries, enrolled retirement plan agents,
and appraisers. These individuals are subject to the regulations
governing practice before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which
are set out in Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 10, and
which are published in pamphlet form as Treasury Department Circular
No. 230. The regulations prescribe the duties and restrictions relating
to such practice and prescribe the disciplinary sanctions for violating
the regulations.

The disciplinary sanctions to be imposed for violation of the
regulations are:

Disbarred from practice before the IRS—An individual who is disbarred is not eligible to represent
taxpayers before the IRS.

Suspended from practice before the IRS—An individual who is suspended is not eligible to represent
taxpayers before the IRS during the term of the suspension.

Censured in practice before the IRS—Censure is a public reprimand. Unlike disbarment or suspension,
censure does not affect an individual’s eligibility to represent
taxpayers before the IRS, but OPR may subject the individual’s
future representations to conditions designed to promote high standards
of conduct.

Monetary penalty—A monetary
penalty may be imposed on an individual who engages in conduct subject
to sanction or on an employer, firm, or entity if the individual was
acting on its behalf and if it knew, or reasonably should have known,
of the individual’s conduct.

Disqualification of appraiser—An appraiser who is disqualified is barred from presenting
evidence or testimony in any administrative proceeding before the
Department of the Treasury or the IRS.

Under the regulations, attorneys, certified public accountants,
enrolled agents, enrolled actuaries, and enrolled retirement plan
agents may not assist, or accept assistance from, individuals who
are suspended or disbarred with respect to matters constituting practice
(i.e., representation) before the IRS, and they
may not aid or abet suspended or disbarred individuals to practice
before the IRS.

Disciplinary sanctions are described in these terms:

Disbarred by decision after hearing, Suspended
by decision after hearing, Censured by decision after hearing, Monetary
penalty imposed after hearing, and Disqualified after hearing—An administrative law judge (ALJ) conducted an evidentiary
hearing upon OPR’s complaint alleging violation of the regulations
and issued a decision imposing one of these sanctions. After 30 days
from the issuance of the decision, in the absence of an appeal, the
ALJ’s decision became the final agency decision.

Disbarred by default decision, Suspended
by default decision, Censured by default decision, Monetary penalty
imposed by default decision, and Disqualified by default decision—An ALJ, after finding that no answer to OPR’s complaint
had been filed, granted OPR’s motion for a default judgment
and issued a decision imposing one of these sanctions.

Disbarment by decision on appeal, Suspended
by decision on appeal, Censured by decision on appeal, Monetary penalty
imposed by decision on appeal, and Disqualified by decision on appeal—The decision of the ALJ was appealed to the agency appeal
authority, acting as the delegate of the Secretary of the Treasury,
and the appeal authority issued a decision imposing one of these sanctions.

Disbarred by consent, Suspended by consent,
Censured by consent, Monetary penalty imposed by consent, and Disqualified
by consent—In lieu of a disciplinary proceeding being
instituted or continued, an individual offered a consent to one of
these sanctions and OPR accepted the offer. Typically, an offer of
consent will provide for: suspension for an indefinite term; conditions
that the individual must observe during the suspension; and the individual’s
opportunity, after a stated number of months, to file with OPR a petition
for reinstatement affirming compliance with the terms of the consent
and affirming current eligibility to practice (i.e., an active professional license or active enrollment status).
An enrolled agent or an enrolled retirement plan agent may also offer
to resign in order to avoid a disciplinary proceeding.

Suspended by decision in expedited proceeding,
Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding, Suspended by
consent in expedited proceeding—OPR instituted an
expedited proceeding for suspension (based on certain limited grounds,
including loss of a professional license and criminal convictions).

OPR has authority to disclose the grounds for disciplinary sanctions
in these situations: (1) an ALJ or the Secretary’s delegate
on appeal has issued a decision on or after September 26, 2007, which
was the effective date of amendments to the regulations that permit
making such decisions publicly available; (2) the individual has settled
a disciplinary case by signing OPR’s “consent to sanction”
form, which requires consenting individuals to admit to one or more
violations of the regulations and to consent to the disclosure of
the individual’s own return information related to the admitted
violations (for example, failure to file Federal income tax returns);
or (3) OPR has issued a decision in an expedited proceeding for suspension.

Announcements of disciplinary sanctions appear in the Internal
Revenue Bulletin at the earliest practicable date. The sanctions
announced below are alphabetized first by the names of states and
second by the last names of individuals. Unless otherwise indicated,
section numbers (e.g., § 10.51) refer
to the regulations.

City and State

Name

Professional Designation

Disciplinary Sanction

Effective Date(s)

Arizona

Tempe

Larson, Lowell T.

CPA

Suspended by consent for admitted violations of § 10.51
(failure to make Federal income tax returns)